Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T02:15:45.322Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Role of single-celled organisms in mucilage formation on the shores of Büyükada Island (the Marmara Sea)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2010

Neslıhan Balkis ,
Hakan Atabay ,
Irfan Türetgen ,
Serhat Albayrak ,
Hüsamettın Balkis  and
Vıldan Tüfekçi
Neslıhan Balkis*
Affiliation:
Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, 34134 Vezneciler- Istanbul, Turkey
Hakan Atabay
Affiliation:
TUBITAK, Marmara Research Center, Environment Institute, 41470, Gebze-Kocaeli, Turkey
Irfan Türetgen
Affiliation:
Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, 34134 Vezneciler- Istanbul, Turkey
Serhat Albayrak
Affiliation:
Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, 34134 Vezneciler- Istanbul, Turkey
Hüsamettın Balkis
Affiliation:
Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, 34134 Vezneciler- Istanbul, Turkey
Vıldan Tüfekçi
Affiliation:
TUBITAK, Marmara Research Center, Environment Institute, 41470, Gebze-Kocaeli, Turkey
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: N. Balkis, Istanbul University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, 34134 Vezneciler-Istanbul, email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study was implemented to determine the environmental factors and causative organisms of the recent mucilage formation in the Marmara Sea. Samples were taken during the study from 7 different depths (0.5–30 m) of one sampling point of the Büyükada Island shore between January and June 2008. As a result, 62 phytoplankton species belonging to 5 different groups were identified. Dinoflagellates were dominant in terms of species number, and diatoms in terms of cell number. In January and February, mucilage formation was very dense, where 5 phytoplankton species (Clindrotheca closterium, Pseudo-nitzschia sp., Skeletonema costatum, Thalassiosira rotula (Bacillariophyceae) and Gonyaulax fragilis (Dinophyceae)) were reported as dominant organisms. Among them, Gonyaulax fragilis has never been reported in the Marmara Sea previously, thus that organism appeared firstly with the formation of dense mucilage and then when the mucilage decayed in May and June 2008, G. fragilis disappeared. Autofluorescent single-celled organisms were classified in three groups depending on their cell sizes (>20 μm, >2 μm, >0.2 μm) by membrane filtration and total count of bacteria were determined by epifluorescence microscope after dying with DAPI. The highest total bacteria was recorded in April at 25 m depth (6655 ± 44.4 cells ml−1) while the lowest count was in June at 0.5 m depth (1077 ± 26.1 cells ml−1). The seawater temperature ranged between 7.0 and 21.5°C, salinity between 20.9 and 37.4 ppt and dissolved oxygen amount between 2.75 and 12.75 mg l−1. The chlorophyll-a amount ranged between 0.10 and 6.35 μg l−1, the higher values were recorded in January at 15 m depth (6.35 μg l−1) and in April at 10 m depth (4.89 μg l−1). Among the nutrients, the amounts of nitrite + nitrate-N varied between 0.02 and 7.67 μg-at N l−1, phosphate-P between 0.11 and 0.96 μg-at P l−1 and silicate-Si between 0.37 and 8.93 μg-at Si l−1. The highest values were determined at a deeper layer where nutrients are accumulated. On the other hand, the N:P ratio interval was found as 0.1–11.3, Si:P ratio as 2.92–52.33 and N:Si ratio as 0.01–1.10 during the sampling period. Nitrogen was the limiting nutrient and the silica amount was enough to enable the development of diatoms.

Keywords

mucilagesingle-celled organismecological factorsthe Marmara Sea
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 91 , Issue 4 , June 2011 , pp. 771 - 781
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

American Public Health Association (APHA) (1999) Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water. 20th edition. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association.Google Scholar
Arin, L., Moran, X.A.G. and Estrada, M. (2002) Phytoplankton size distribution and growth rates in the Alboran Sea (SW Mediterranean): short term variability related to mesoscale hydrodynamics. Journal of Plankton Research 24, 1019–1033.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azam, F. and Long, R.A. (2001) Sea snow microcosms. Nature 414, 495–498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beşiktepe, Ş.T., Sur, H.İ., Özsoy, E., Abdul Latif, M.A, Oğuz, T. and Ünlüata, Ü. (1995) The circulation and hydrography of the Marmara Sea. Progress in Oceanography 34, 285–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabrini, M., Fonda-Umani, S. and Honsell, G. (1992) Mucilaginous aggregates in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea) analysis of the phytoplanktonic communities in the period June–August 1989. Science of the Total Environment (Supplement), 557–568.Google Scholar
Goffart, A., Hecq, J.H. and Legendre, L. (2002) Changes in the development of the winter–spring phytoplankton bloom in the Bay of Calvi (NW Mediterranean) over the last two decades: a response to changing climate? Marine Ecology Progress Series 236, 45–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haris, G.P. (1986) Phytoplankton ecology. London: Chapman and Hall Ltd.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herndl, G.J., Arrietta, M. and Stoderegger, K. (1999) Interaction between specific hydrological and microbial activity leading to extensive mucilage formation in the Northern Adriatic Sea. Annali Istituto Superiore Sanita 35, 405–409.Google ScholarPubMed
Innamorati, M., Nuccio, C., Massi, L., Mori, G. and Melley, A. (2001) Mucilages and climatic changes in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 11, 289–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ivanoff, A. (1972) Introduction a l'océanographie. Paris: Tome I. Librairie Vuibert.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, L., Sims, I., Beuzenberg, V. and Gillespie, P. (2002) Mass accumulation of mucilage caused by dinoflagellate polysaccharide exudates in Tasman Bay, New Zeland. Harmful Algae 1, 69–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mecozzi, M., Acquistucci, R., Di Noto, V, Pietrantonio, E., Amirici, M. and Cardarilli, D. (2001) Characterization of mucilage aggregates in Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Sea: structure similarities between mucilage samples and the insoluble fractions of marine humic substance. Chemosphere 44, 709–720.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mingazzini, M. and Thake, B. (1995) Summary of the workshop on marine mucilages in the Adriatic Sea and elsewhere. Science of the Total Environment 165, 9–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Negro, P.D., Crevatin, E., Larato, C., Ferrari, C., Totti, C., Pompei, M., Giani, M., Berto, D. and Fonda-Umani, S. (2005) Mucilage microcosms. Science of the Total Environment 353, 258–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nikolaidis, G., Aligizaki, K., Koukaras, K. and Moschandreou, K. (2006) Mucilage phenomena in North Aegean Sea, Greece: another harmful effect of dinoflagellates. International Society fort the study of hamful algae. 12th international conference on harmful algae. 4–8 September 2006, Copenhagen, Denmark, p. 250.Google Scholar
Parsons, T.R., Maita, Y. and Lalli, C.M. (1984) A manual of chemical and biological methods for seawater analysis. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Pistocchi, R., Cangini, M., Totti, C., Urbani, R., Guerrini, F., Romagnoli, T., Sist, P., Palamidesi, S., Boni, L. and Pompei, M. (2005) Relevance of the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax fragilis in mucilage formations of the Adriatic Sea. Science of the Total Environment 353, 307–316.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pompei, M., Mazziotti, C., Guerrini, F., Cangini, M., Pigozzi, S., Benzi, M., Palamidesi, S., Boni, L. and Pistocchi, R. (2003) Correlation between the presence of Gonyaulax fragilis (Dinophyceae) and the mucilage phenomena of the Emilia-Romagna coast (northern Adriatic Sea). Harmful Algae 2, 301–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Revelante, N. and Gilmartin, G. (1991) The phytoplankton composition and population enrichment in gelatinous “macroaggregates” in the northern Adriatic during the summer of 1989. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 146, 217–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rinaldi, A., Vollenweider, R.A., Montanari, G., Ferrari, C.R. and Ghetti, A. (1995) Mucilages in Italian Seas: the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas, 1988–1991. Science of the Total Environment 165, 165–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodriguez, G.G., Phipps, D., Ishiguro, K. and Ridgway, H.F. (1992) Use of a fluorescent redox probe for direct visualization of actively respiring bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 58, 1801–1808.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siegel, S. (1956) Non parametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Simon, M., Grossart, H.P., Schweitzer, B. and Ploug, H. (2002) Microbial ecology of organic aggregates in aquatic ecosystems. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 28, 175–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Throndsen, J. (1978) Preservation and storage. In Sournia, A. (ed.) Phytoplankton manual. Paris: UNESCO, pp. 69–74.Google Scholar
Tinti, F., Boni, L., Pistocchi, R., Riccardi, M. and Guerrini, F. (2007) Species-specific probe, based on 18S rDNA sequence, could be used for identification of the mucilage producer microalga Gonyaulax fragilis (Dinophyta). Hydrobiologia 580, 259–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Totti, C., Cangini, M., Ferrari, C., Kraus, R., Pompei, M., Pugnetti, A., Romagnoli, T., Vanucci, S. and Socal, G. (2005) Phytoplankton size-distribution and community structure in relation to mucilage occurrence in the northern Adriatic Sea. Science of the Total Environment 353, 204–217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tuğrul, S. and Polat, S.C. (1995) Quantitative comparison of the influxes of nutrients and organic carbon into the Sea of Marmara both from antropogenic sources and from the Black Sea. Water Science and Technology 32, 115–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tüfekçi, V., Balkıs, N., Polat-Beken, Ç., Ediger, D. and Mantıkçı, M. (in press) Phytoplankton composition and environmental conditions of the mucilage event in the Sea of Marmara. Turkish Journal of Biology.Google Scholar
Ünlüata, U., Oğuz, T., Latif, M.A. and Özsoy, E. (1990) The physical oceanography of the Turkish Straits. In Pratt, L.J. (ed.) The physical oceanography of sea straits. Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 25–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vollenweider, R.A., Giovanardi, F., Montanari, G. and Rinaldi, A. (1998) Characterization of the trophic conditions of marine coastal waters with special reference to the NW Adriatic Sea: proposal for a trophic scale, turbidity and generalized water quality index. Environmetrics 9, 329–357.3.0.CO;2-9>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winkler, L.W. (1888) The determination of dissolved oxygen in water. Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft 21, 2843–2855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar